Life goes on

Greetings from Wisconsin and apologies for the lag in blogging. I must admit that I needed a break. Having Dad back in Ohio, it took us cheeseheads awhile to get back into our routines. Now we have the kids in the school, cool weather and the return of another fall.

As for Dad, he's back to his routines on Becker Road, too. He's enjoyed re-connecting with family and friends and of course Linda. It sounds like his favorite activity has been making daily treks to the farm to see Bill and Jim and "roll the cob" with them. Dad feels best when he can be independent and people treat him like the old Bill. He's emphasized over and over that he doesn't want to be coddled. He's happy getting his own meals, tinkering with stuff around the house, reading, talking on the phone and making those trips to the farm.

This morning there was an incident during his farm walk -- he got dizzy and fell down. It sounds like my old bus driver picked him up in the school bus and brought him home. His neighbors and Uncle Bill have checked in on him, as have Heather and I via phone, and he seems to be okay. We'll continue to monitor him throughout the day, but sounds like it was just a weird glitch. Things like this discourage him, though. Bill wants to be Bill and just do his thing. Of course the disease may have other plans now and then. He'll keep fighting it. Ups and downs, ups and downs.

Heather and I have plans to see Dad each month at least through November. September, he'll be back in Madison for a week for follow-up MRI and appointments with his UW team. October, it sounds like Heather's planning a visit to Ohio. Then November, Thanksgiving with the Born family and a week at Dad's house.

I've had some time to reflect, but not enough time. I need to gather thoughts like ducklings and let them follow me around for awhile until I'm ready to lead them to the pond (blog). It's a lot to absorb. Four months ago, pre-brain tumor, things seemed pretty simple. Now, not so much.

Back to Dad -- Here's another plea to give him a call and/or visit. You would brighten his day, and there's not a man that shows his gratitude better than Dad. So you'd feel good, too.